Quote:
Originally Posted by richyhu
Like the original poster I am a big fan of Latin American literature and would love to see some Vargas Llosa & Garcia Marquez available in ebook format. Would also love to see the Edith Grossman translation of Don Quixote.
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Why the Grossman translation? The translation by Rutherford (Penguin) seems terser. (That's the one I would prefer in e-book edition anyway): (p 208)
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'Have I not already told you', replied Don Quixote, 'that I intend to imitate Amadis, and to act the desperate, foolish, furious lover so as also to imitate the valiant Orlando, when he found signs by a spring that the fair Angelica had disgraced herself with Medoro, and the grief turned him mad, and he uprooted trees, sullied the waters of clear springs, slew shepherds, destroyed flocks, burned cottages, tore down houses, dragged away mares and performed a hundred other excesses, worthy to be recorded on the tablets of eternal fame?'
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'But to my mind', said Sancho, 'the knights who did all that were pushed into it and had their reasons for their antics and their penances, but what reason have you got for going mad?'
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'That is the whole point', replied Don Quixote, 'and therein lies the beauty of my enterprise. A Knight Errant going mad for a good reason - there is neither pleasure nor merit in that. The thing is to become insane without a cause and have my lady think: If I do all this when dry, what would I not do when wet?'
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And this is Grossman's translation of the same passage: (p. 193-4)
Quote:
"Have I not told you already," responded Don Quixote, "that I wish to imitate Amadís, playing the part of one who is desperate, a fool, a madman, thereby imitating as well the valiant Don Roland when he discovered in a fountain the signs that Angelica the fair had committed base acts with Medoro, and his grief drove him mad, and he uprooted trees, befouled the water of clear fountains, killed shepherds, destroyed livestock, burned huts, demolished houses, pulled down mares, and did a hundred thousand other unheard-of things worthy of eternal renown and record?"
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"It seems to me," said Sancho, "that the knights who did these things were provoked and had a reason to do senseless things and penances; but what reason does your grace have for going crazy?"
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"Therein lies the virtue," responded Don Quixote, "and the excellence of my enterprise, for a knight errant deserves neither glory nor thanks if he goes mad for a reason. The great achievement is to lose one's reason for no reason, and to let my lady think that if I can do this without cause, what should I not do if there were cause?"
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Now, I have no clue which is the more accurate translation, but I do know I find Rutherford's translation more appealing.
PS. Are there any rules about maximum quotation length?